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The muscles in all their arms are screaming from the weight of the concrete from what used to be the roof. It is at that moment that the realization strikes all of them. Even with Cole’s superstrength and Zane’s titanium form, it is not enough. The four of them can only keep holding up the loose chunk of the subway tunnel for so long and that time is running out fast. Too fast. It won’t be long now.
A strange kind of peace washes over them all at that. After all the battles, fights and heart-stopping injuries over the years, this is how they will go out. Crushed by rubble.
“Guys, I’m sorry.” Cole says. His muscles are screaming from the immense strain of keeping them all from being crushed.
He’s the one with the super strength. He should be able to hold this piece of debris up. He’s the one who will fail them all. He’s the reason they will all be dead.
“It’s okay.” Jay tells him as sincerely as Cole’s ever heard him. There is no trace of humour anywhere in his voice. Those two words…he is not the only one who has accepted the impending death. There’s something strangely comforting in that.
I’m sorry guys.
Before Cole even opens his mouth after he has turned to him, Jay knows what he’s going to say. He knows what is coming. All four of them do. There’s an almost, kind of, peace surrounding them because of that. Contrary to what his best friend most likely believes right now, it is not his fault. The full blame rests on the shoulders of whoever controls the Crystal Spiders.
What Jay regrets the most is that he never had the chance to grow old with Nya; And that he was breaking his promise to her.
After Nya had become human again, the two of them had promised that they would always come home from a mission, battle, etc. They would eventually make it to old age together. Not anymore.
Not to forget that they would never get to marry. The couple had planned to get married when (not if, it had never been a matter of if for them) they got out of this current world-ending catastrophe (crystrophe, get it?). Now that would never come to fruition.
In those final moments, he was infinitely more aware of his Yang Medallion that was currently hanging around his neck and tucked under his tunic. All those years ago, he had asked Nya to be his Yang when no one had been sure if they would ever make it out of that battle against the Oni.
I’m sorry Nya.
Zane has come to the same conclusion that their brothers have. They will all die here and there’s nothing that they can do about it.
hopes that Pixal does not take the news of their death too hard. This fight will not be over just because three-quarters of the ninja are dead. Pixal will still need to fight, they hope that their death won’t impair her performance too badly.
The Yang medallion in their pocket is metaphorically burning them, mocking them for their hesitation. Hesitation that they will take to the grave. They had planned to ask the samurai to be their Yang later today. It seems that will never come to pass now; There is a core-deep sadness in that.
The two of them had made plans for the future. Eventually, they would have settled down and built a child together. They had been unable to come to an agreement on the gender of this future child.
“Then we will let them decide their own gender, when the time comes,” Pixal had declared and that was that.
They hope that whoever finds the remains of their body does not rebuild them again, once is enough. They refuse to continue to live in a world where their brothers do not. And that the Yang medallion will make it into Pixal’s possession. These two thoughts are saved as audio recordings in their “black box” instead of their usual memory storage; Until now, their “black box” memory storage had been empty. They had no need to use it until now.
I am sorry, Pixal.
The one thing that Kai regrets above all else is that they never had the chance to say goodbye to Nya. That she will find their bodies buried amongst this rubble.
They remember how destructive Nya’s ‘death’ had been and that had been only one person, how much damage will four deaths cause?
After all that joking around that their recklessness would one day kill them, that they will be the first one to die; that will actually be true. There is no coming back from being crushed to death by concrete, after all.
Oh. They never got to tell Cole that they love him. They hope that it is reciprocated. <s>I can assure you, Kai, it very much is.</s> Maybe there will still be a chance on the other side of the river?
They are leaving Nya behind. They are leaving her to fight a world-ending battle by herself (<s>she won’t be alone not with Skylor and Pixal at her side</s>). They won’t be able to protect her anymore.
I’m sorry little sis.
In hindsight, it is a twisted kind of humour. Nya had taken four seconds longer to get to the boys, to rescue them. Those four seconds, barely long enough to blink, cost the original four their lives.
Her mech touches down in the street that is riddled up and down with more of those purple crystals. In front of what once was a part of the subway system that runs under the city.
There is no sign of her brothers anywhere in the street. All that there is here is destroyed concrete and debris. Nary a scrap of brightly coloured fabric to be seen anywhere. The samurai’s heart sinks at what it implies.
Her mech’s hands haul away boulder after boulder. Chunk after chunk. Finding nothing. Then finally, she pulls away the largest piece of debris. There are four bodies underneath, of four saddengly familiar people.
Their bodies are battered, slightly pancaked by the weight of the debris, but still mostly intact. An elephant-sized weight takes residence on her chest. With the utmost care, the former ninja picks up all four of the bodies and cradles them against the torso of the mech as she takes off back towards the monastery.
As soon as she touches down in the courtyard, the bodies are carefully placed down on the courtyard’s pavement before she jumps out of the mech.
“Pix, take the mech, go into the city; we’ll talk later,” Nya tells the android. She knew that Pixal had questions even though she nods, gets in the mech and takes off. But the battle going on in New Ninjago City is far from over just yet.
Master Wu has yet to say anything; is it for the better or worse?
When she landed, he was standing a few paces away, now he is kneeling over the prone forms of four of his students. The aging teacher looks up at her as she wordlessly joins him. After all, there’s nothing that she can say that can make this better, that can take away this pain.
Four seconds wasn’t even long enough for someone to blink. But it had been long enough for her brother, boyfriend and closest friends to lose their lives.
I’m sorry I wasn’t faster.